PRECIOUS-Gold prices hold steady ahead of Fed verdict

Sept 17 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Tuesday as traders broadly remained on the sidelines ahead of an expected rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve this week.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was steady at $1,497.40 per ounce, as of 0112 GMT.

* U.S. gold futures were down 0.4% at $1,504.9 per ounce.

* Oil exporter currencies held firm, while the U.S. dollar found broad support as recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities and the threat of military action in the region buoyed crude prices, while stocks were under pressure.

* U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said it looked like Iran was behind attacks on oil plants in Saudi Arabia but stressed he did not want to go to war, while the attacks sent oil prices soaring and raised fears of a new Middle East conflict.

* The weekend bombings of Saudi Arabia's main oil refinery have already stoked Trump to pressure the U.S. Fed to lower rates.

* Deputy-level U.S.-China trade talks are scheduled to start in Washington on Thursday, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said on Monday, paving the way for high-level talks in October aimed at resolving a bitter trade war.

* Britain's Boris Johnson said on Monday that a Brexit deal was beginning to emerge, but the European Union said he offered nothing to break the impasse during a visit to Luxembourg where he was harangued loudly by protesters and rebuked for trying to shift the blame.

* Credit rating agency Moody's changed its outlook on Hong Kong's rating to "negative" from "stable" on Monday, reflecting what it called the rising risk of "an erosion in the strength of Hong Kong's institutions" amid the city's ongoing protests.

* Trump said on Monday that the United States has reached initial trade agreements with Japan on tariff barriers and digital trade that will not require congressional approval.

* Gold prices look to have established a new floor at $1,500 per ounce, Kinross Gold Corp's chief executive officer said on Monday, giving the Canadian miner confidence to push ahead with expansion plans at a key West African mine.